Aston Villa to miss out on £5.9m cash injection due to ‘Steven Gerrard problem’
Aston Villa are in good hands under Unai Emery’s management, but still face the problems of Steven Gerrard’s time at Villa Park.
Gerrard was sacked as the Aston Villa manager two and a half years ago, with a record of two wins in 12 Premier League games at the start of the 2022-23 season leaving the hierarchy with no choice but to pull the plug on him.
Emery has since taken the Villans to greater heights, as evidenced by their top-four finish in the Premier League last season and their UEFA Champions League run this time.
However, that is not to say the Birmingham-based club have shaken off the shortcomings of Gerrard’s disappointing stint entirely, with its remnants still visible in the squad.
Aston Villa face Leander Dendoncker problem
One of the things that led to Gerrard’s downfall at Aston Villa was his poor signings in the 2022 summer transfer window.
It is no coincidence that the Liverpool icon had to pack his bags at Villa Park just weeks after roping in the likes of Diego Carlos, Philippe Coutinho and Jan Bednarek in the summer.
It is worth noting that four of Villa’s seven signings that summer have already left the club, while only one of the remaining players – Boubacar Kamara – has any sort of future in Birmingham.
Robin Olsen’s contract runs out at the end of the season, and that leaves Dendoncker as the only remaining deadwood from that set of players.
| Players |
| Diego Carlos |
| Philippe Coutinho |
| Leander Dendoncker |
| Boubacar Kamara |
| Robin Olsen |
| Ludwig Augustinsson |
| Jan Bednarek |
Villa sent Dendoncker out on loan to Anderlecht last summer with hopes that his former club would eventually make the move permanent for £5.9million.
However, the transfer has not gone according to plan for the midfielder, who had the captain’s armband stripped off him just a few weeks into his spell.
Anderlecht have no plans to trigger the option to make Dendoncker’s loan permanent, according to Het Laatste Nieuws.
The 29-year-old has been so disappointing that the Belgian newspaper, reporting via their website on Sunday (30 March), described him as the ’embodiment of the problems’ at Anderlecht.
Gerrard’s shortcomings still affecting Villa
The possibility of the Belgian Pro League club negotiating a new deal with Aston Villa is also deemed unlikely as there is ‘internal consensus’ on that yet.
Moreover, Dendoncker would have to accept a wage cut to move to Anderlecht again.
This means Aston Villa have to figure out what to do with Dendoncker again this summer.
It looks certain they will make a hefty loss on the £13m fee they paid Wolves for his services in 2022.
Unfortunately, Villa are still affected by the shortcomings of Gerrard’s spell as their manager over two years ago.